Friday, July 25, 2008

Our grocery bill hovered between $75 and $100 until this spring. But that doesn't include lunches for the kids or my husband during the week. And I eat leftovers for lunch about half the time and buy my lunch the other half. Then food prices went c.r.a.z.y. and we were looking at twice that sometimes. Twice! For seven dinners and oatmeal.

When our CSA share has started up, the bill went back down below $100, but that's not counting a great deal of veggies we've already paid for.

Hi! I just found you too. I write about food sometimes. Honestly, I'm intrigued by the $100 grocery bill. I've made it some weeks, but only by raiding my pantry. I have done a lot of tracking in the past, but lately its been out of control (and I've noticed an increase as my children have been eating like big kids).

The article set pretty strict guidelines: $100 was supposed to cover three meals a day for the whole family. And, I think, the experiment ruled out cheap ethnic grocery stores and farmer's markets.

Our situation is pretty different: Our groceries really only cover breakfasts and dinners. My kids are young (3 and 5) and get their snacks and a big lunch at daycare (they get breakfast there, too, but they also eat breakfast at home). They're not very hungry at dinnertime, so it's almost like I'm buying groceries for a household of two.

During the summer and fall, we get our vegetables through a CSA, which is about $25 a week--so I have to add that in. And we get two CSA chickens a month--add in another $25 a month.

We don't eat a whole lot of meat--a pound or two a week for the whole family. And cereal is pretty much the only really "processed" food we buy.

So... actually, given all that, I'm a little shocked that I manage to spend as much as I do at the grocery store!

I saw on TV recently; a family of 4 that streched $50 for the food budget... the wife spends like 2 hrs a week for coupons...admire her! hee!! anyhow,I just published my "Bless=?" contest in my blog, the winner has a great message for all of us I think... let me know what you think. Hope to hear from you. Have a lovely new week ahead!